We’ve all wished we were The Rock at some point, but this guy went out and lived it for a month.
Reddit user “nycballer” – aka Mark Webster – has been training and eating like The Rock since February 1 and recording his journey online.
Talking about his experience Mark said he took up the plan not to get as shredded as everyone’s favourite former wrestler, but instead to see “can I do this really hard thing this successful guy does while living a normal life?”
After detailing a rather impressive nutrition and workout regime he found as based off an interview The Rock did in Muscle And Fitness, nycballer put himself to work, and now just over a month later has some impressive findings.
Eating 5,000 calories a day takes up a lot of time.
Mark ate A LOT of cod to reach his 5,000 calorie daily target. In his quest to match The Rock’s intensive high-protein, low-fat diet, he consumed nearly 80lbs of the stuff in a month.
“I didn’t skip a single meal, ate every bite, and had nothing else besides this food the entire time,” he said. “I thought I would put on a few pounds, so getting leaner was a surprise.”
It would take Mark around an hour a day to prep food for 2-3 days, as you can see in his food-prep gallery.
It’s also rather expensive.
“Eating like The Rock isn’t cheap,” Mark said on Reddit “It’s costing me about $42/day, putting this whole experiment at a monthly budget of almost $1,300. It’s mostly the cod that gets you, that alone is $18/day.” Mark also detailed a breakdown of his food spend here. Roughly, that’s £10,000 a year to continue the plan.
Being hench isn’t easy. Or cheap.
You work up a mental sweat, as well as a physical one.
When you’re spending two hours in the gym for six days a week, you end up with a lot of extra hours using headphones. Mark shunned traditional workout music playlists, and instead opted to listen to podcasts for the month. “Music just doesn’t hold my focus for that amount of time,” he said. “I also feel like I’m getting smarter and bettering myself in the process.”
He also slowly won The Rock over.
But what did Dwayne Johnson think of Mark’s journey? Well, as documented in this gallery, he was slowly won over by Mark’s commitment and dedication to the plan.
Presenting a tale in three tweets:
Uh oh. This kinda only works if you train 2xs a day, work 14hrs on set and are half Samoan/half Black. And cuss. 😂💯 https://t.co/eZ1kySsoub
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) February 23, 2016
Tip my hat to this guy. "Didn't do this to look like The Rock, but wanted to see if I could work as hard as him" ✔️ https://t.co/qH6UX28V5R
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) March 9, 2016
It ain't cheap or easy to do. But the results are 💯. And I still hate cod. https://t.co/FmC79ZWGcW
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) March 9, 2016
While Mark admits it’s not for everyone, he did have a terrific time working out.
“I have no aspirations to get huge like The Rock, and 30 days wouldn’t do it anyway,” Mark said in the answer thread on Reddit. “Overall, it was an extremely positive experience, and I highly encourage everyone to push themselves to try something new for a month.”
Throughout the journey he commented on how he felt better than ever, and didn’t feel the usual aches and pains a man normally gets as he enters his late-thirties (Mark himself is 37).
While he only gained one pound, the difference in physique speaks for itself: Mark is leaner, lifting bigger, and fitter than ever before.
“Would I suggest this plan to others? If you’re chasing the physical results, you’re almost certainly better off putting together a routine and meal plan specifically for you. It’s also extremely expensive, at $42/day. While cod is an excellent source of low calorie, low fat protein, that benefit doesn’t outweigh the cost of, say, chicken breast.”
Mark’s next fitness goal is to do a plan more tailored to his needs. Thankfully with less cod.
You can view the entire thread, where Mark talks about his future fitness goals and answers questions about his workout month here.
For more details, including Mark’s Fitbit stats, you can enjoy his website – Rocking For 30 Days – here.
Good on you, Mark.
